Teen arrested for BB gun shooting spree

Police have arrested at least one person whom they said used a BB gun to shoot numerous vehicles and a woman earlier this month in Lincolnton.

Officers charged Robert Charles Champlin III, 19, of 311 Beard Road in Lincolnton, on Friday, according to a report.

Champlin faces a slew of charges in the case.

Police said the teen and anywhere from three to four other individuals shot BB guns from a white Jeep Cherokee on July 20 while traveling down East Main Street.

Several witnesses told officers they spotted the vehicle carrying multiple people inside during the incidents.

A woman told officers the individuals shot her in her backside while she was standing in an East Main Street parking lot.

Another person witnessed a BB hit the car wash sign he was holding in the parking lot of O’Reilly Auto Parts in Lincolnton, investigators said.

The individuals also damaged more than 20 vehicles, incidents which police said occurred sometime between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. July 21, the following day.

Investigators searched for Champlin, they said, for a few days before locating him.

The Jeep also belongs to him, police said.

Officers are still investigating the case and expect more arrests to occur in the future. The culprits still on the loose are most likely in their late teens to early 20s, police said.

Champlin has since been released from the Lincoln County detention facility on a $15,000 secured bond.

A report said he faces 21 counts of injury to personal property, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon and one count each of assault and battery, larceny, breaking and entering a motor vehicle and armed to the terror of the public.

Champlin has a history of attempted larceny in the county, according to the North Carolina Department of Correction website.

NC DOC showed he received a misdemeanor conviction for the offense last year.